Ideally $300 in parts alone. But he indicates that due to some trial and error, additional equipment needed, etc. it probably cost him closer to $1000, and that no one he knows who has tried it has managed to perfectly hit the $300 value.

How much does a legit license to use IOS cost (without buying a phone/tablet)? … This video is pretty amazing and informative, I think he needs a production team. I could see a youtube channel dedicated to these projects going gangbusters.

He bought a used logic board, which already had a working copy of IOS on it. WHich explains the confusion I experienced when I first heard about this guy – it’s flat out impossible to make yourself a working IOS iphone from parts skimmed from Apple’s supply chain unless you have access to Apple’s cryptographic keys. But he dodged that bit by obtaining a used logic board with the OS installed and all the key signing stuff already taken care of.

@peterk: don’t forget the amount of time he spent on this, which he did not mention but must have been hundreds of hours. Immaterial if you’re doing it for fun, but it should be mentioned when you talk about how much it cost you. Because one person’s “oh it wasn’t that expensive” becomes another person’s “jesus christ this is absolutely not worth it” when you add the time involved.

@quori: gouging is in the eye of the purchaser. If you object to 40% of the purchase price going to Apple’s profit margin, then buy used or refurbished. My current Iphone (a 4s) cost me about $75 US. And for what I need it to do, it works perfectly well.

After watching this, I’m left wondering how many years it will be before we’re all doing what he did- building our own phones. 30 years ago, I wouldn’t have foreseen how easy it is to build a PC- in 30 years, will we all be building our own phones? 15?

Even if by “we all,” you are merely referring to your ingroup of nerds, I really don’t think phone building is ever going to catch on like PC building for one simple reason - size. Even a sausage fingered person can build a PC with an ordinary household screwdriver. But assembling or repairing a phone requires tiny screwdrivers, hobbit fingers, and sharp rabbit eyes. Lots of people who might be willing to assemble or repair a PC or laptop will simply not be able to do the same with a phone.

I’ve built lots of PCs and torn down and rebuilt several laptops. I’ve tried disassembling a broken iphone exactly once, and gave up quickly. Having to unscrew parts that I could barely see and barely pick up and set back in place properly was bad enough, discovering that I lacked a needed tool and that the Ifixit instructions were inaccurate formed the last straw.

Ideally $300 in parts alone. But he indicates that due to some trial and error, additional equipment needed, etc. it probably cost him closer to $1000, and that no one he knows who has tried it has managed to perfectly hit the $300 value.